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Valefor
Elijah Mathers, to outsiders, is a member of the Fallen. Personality Elijah is smart, a fact recognized by Accord, who described him as "more cunning than you'd assume. An arrogant young man, impetuous and immature, but history suggests he's rather cunning when he puts his mind to something."Interlude 20.y He deliberately crafted this costume to provoke those in Brockton Bay.Valefor – Styled his costume after the Simurgh, to provoke the residents of Brockton Bay who recently suffered a great deal in the aftermath of an Endbringer attack, with mask of a woman’s face, black tattoos around his lips and a white costume with a corset and feathers. Is described as having a dangerous gaze relating to his stranger power. - Cast (in depth) Further, he showed no respect for the current holders of Brockton Bay, likely meaning to provoke them as well. Was willing and able to kill people to further his own ends. Reputation The exact details of Valefor's powers were not widely known. He had some kind of secondary thinker power, but it wasn't clear what."I didn't think this man-slut would be able to see me." "You know his powers," I said, glad for the change of topic. "Hypnotic stare, Tattletale said he might have other senses or augmented awareness to track his victims." - Excerpt from Imago 21.3 The PRT weren't aware of the full extent of his control.The answer is this: the high-ranking master stuff isn't stuff the PRT has seen him do. All they know is there's major subterfugey, deceptive stuff going on in his wake. - Wildbow on Reddit It was widely believed that Valefor did not kill, but in fact, he had simply been covering his tracks using his power.…and forget I gave these orders," he finished. That would be one reason for the stranger classification, right there. The orders to kill or commit suicide were a surprise to me, but he was more than capable of covering his tracks. "Imp," Valefor said. "Find and kill your teammates. I want you to kill yourself when you're done trying. Go, and forget I gave this order." - Excerpt from Imago 21.3 His mutilation and subsequent shift in powers was not common knowledge.We’d been prepared for Valefor as he was, with outdated records and a printout of a wiki page that had been salvaged from someone’s laptop after the slow process began of rebuilding the internet. - Excerpt from Shadow 5.10 Appearance Valefor has a thin build with little muscle and speaks with a slight southern tang.“Why should we listen to you?” Valefor asked, his voice was incongruous with his outfit, bearing a slight southern twang. He leaned over one chair, his arms folded over the backrest, taunting. - Excerpt from Interlude 20.y He has tattoos that color his thin lips black and extend from the corners, depicting fangs that nearly reach his jawline, with the points alternating up and down.The Fallen must not have been terribly far behind him, as they arrived less than a minute after he did. Valefor and Eligos. Valefor wore a delicate-looking mask without eye-holes: a woman’s upper face with closed eyes. Beneath the mask, he had a sly, perpetual smirk with tattoos that colored his lips black and extended from the corners. The ink depicted fangs poking from thin lips that nearly reached his jaw, the points alternating up and down. His costume was almost effeminate, with white and silver feathers featuring heavily on flowing white clothes that clung to his narrow body, including a corset that drew his waist in. The costume was meant to invoke images of the Simurgh, no doubt. - Excerpt from Interlude 20.y His hair is long, straight, and blonde.I'd taken her for a scared kid in the company of her mother. No. She'd… he'd compelled a woman to pretend to be his mother, and my roving insects hadn't thought twice about it. It was Valefor, in a teenage girl's top and skinny jeans, with long, straight blond hair, and makeup caked onto his face to hide the tattoo. - Excerpt from Imago 21.3 He would later dye it white to match his mothers own dyed hair. He generally wore a sly smirk. On at least one occasion Valefor dressed in a teenage girl's top and skinny jeans, using makeup to hide his tattoos in order to hide among a crowd. Four years after Brockton Bay, his eyes had become a mess of cataracts that blinded him.He escaped the room, doorknob squeaking. In the process, he nearly collided with Elijah. It was only his own doing that stopped him. Elijah held a bowl of water with a sponge floating in it in the crook of one arm. He had a slight smile on his face, barely visible through the long white-dyed hair he had. it was long enough to drape around his collarbone. Behind that hair, his eyes were a milky cataract white. Not just for show. Seeing his cane was the only reason Rain hadn’t walked into him and spilled the water. - Excerpt from Interlude 4c II Costume As a cape Valefor wears a delicate-looking mask with no eye-holes; a woman's upper face with closed eyes. His costume is effeminate, with white and silver feathers on flowing white clothing that clings to his body, and a corset. His tattoos were visible beneath the mask. The costume was an attempt to carve out his own identity for himself as he was making his own Fallen cell.It should be stressed that some aspects (costumes) are going to be played up or played down depending on what they're trying to do and what family branch you're working with. Valefor is a fancy lad and wanted to dress up as he aimed to establish his own independent identity and group, but shouldn't be taken as a representative for his larger group, aesthetically. For the degree of crime & violation of the unwritten rules, definite evolution leading through the timeskip, with a couple of distinct groups living on the fringes and acting as the less-publicly-visible core/fallback/backup for the looser group. - The Evolution of the Fallen (Wildbow, Reddit.com, 2018-03-23) Four years later he wore a totally white outfit, complete matching white vest, trousers, shoes, and walking stick,Their leader wasn’t like that. He had an aura to him. As dark and grungy as the others were, as cheap as many of their costumes were, their skin cluttered with tattoos, he was all in white. White hair, white mask of overlapping segments with no eyes and black lipstick across the feminine mouth, white tunic, white leggings, white cane. Valefor. He’d attacked my hometown. He’d be leadership, or he’d be up there. He had that pedigree. - Excerpt from Shadow 5.9 even dying his hair to match the wrap around white segmented mask with his dark tattooed lips. He decorated his hair with feathers, possibly as a nod to the Fallens former 'patrons'.There were white feathers in his hair and around his collar. He bent his head at an angle while talking in a whisper with the person leading him. ... “I said not to be clever,” Valefor said. He drew in a deep breath, then tilted his head as far to the left as it would go, where ear would have been touching shoulder if his mask didn’t cover it. - Excerpt from Shadow 5.10 Abilities and Powers Valefor has a "hypnotic stare" - the ability to render anyone he looks at with his naked eyesAccord surveyed the situation. Valefor was a stranger, less in terms of his ability to hide, and more in his ability to engage in subterfuge. He had only to look on a target with his naked eye, and the fight was over. It was no small wonder, really, that he'd styled himself after the Simurgh. The effect was all too similar, in how the victim was often unaware of what had happened until it was too late. - Excerpt from Interlude 20.yValefor had to be somewhere nearby. The second he got a glimpse of me, it was over. - Excerpt from Imago 21.3 stunned and suggestible to his commands.Stranger-type capes were classified that way due to their capabilities in stealth and subterfuge. Valefor was more the latter. He wasn’t stealthy, exactly, but his ability to perpetrate subterfuge was devastating. One look, and his target was stunned, rendered eminently suggestible. A hypnotic gaze, so to speak. He’d played up the telepathy angle before people caught on, and the costume that echoed the Simurgh was a token to that. The fact that he could leave suggestions that only triggered under certain conditions was another part of it. ‘Attack so-and-so next week’. ‘Set fire to your workplace the next time your boss pisses you off’. Capes with powers that allowed them to compel others walked a fine line. Even without murder, Valefor was pushing that line. - Excerpt from Imago 21.3 He may or may not be able to use this on himself, to change his state of mind or similar.“I fixed it myself, after getting powers,” Elijah said. “Looked myself in the eye, mirror right in front of me, and I told myself to enjoy it. To like it, my own mother a mere thought away. To be loyal.” - Excerpt from Interlude 4c II He could use this ability to implant suggestions that trigger under particular circumstances or through direct orders this included the memory of him even giving the order. Given this procedure, victims were often initially unaware they had been affected. Additionally, he can cancel previous orders through another spoken command."Cancel the orders, fuckwit!" she growled, dropping on top of him. Her knife pressed against Valefor's throat. "How-" She backhanded him across the face, striking him in one cheekbone with the knife handle. "Cancel!" I could sense the crowd relaxing. People hurried away from the scene. It took more than a minute before they were all gone. - Excerpt from Imago 21.3 He was able to see Imp somehow.She looked down at Valefor. Her tone was more serious as she said, “I didn’t think this man-slut would be able to see me.” “You know his powers,” I said, glad for the change of topic. “Hypnotic stare, Tattletale said he might have other senses or augmented awareness to track his victims.” - Excerpt from Imago 21.3 After the loss of the use of his eyes, his power seems to have shifted and given his words more weight than they once had.“I can’t see anymore, Rain. My eyes have no power.” Rain nodded. They were at the door now. Elijah didn’t let him go. “But what I say? My words have more power than before. All I have to do is tell you to, and you’d want it. I could tell you to be gleeful to have the worst punishment we can offer, and you would be, because it would be in service of the Fallen and Mama.” Again, the image, standing outside, wearing her nightgown, hair blowing in the wind. “Like I did for Lachlan,” Elijah said. - Excerpt from Interlude 4c II His power is largely unchanged from what was showcased before, but people are able to think of ways around his commands, Valefor had gotten into earshot, and apparently that was all he needed. - Excerpt from Shadow 5.10 further people can resist him if they don't think he is speaking directly to them. - Excerpt from Shadow 5.10 History Background According to his mother Elijah became a parahuman in the first years of his life, which necessitated Cauldron involvement and her accepting the vial.Interlude 15.z Elijah grew up in the Mathers branch of the Fallen, with his mother calling the shots. Post-Echidna Valefor traveled to Brockton Bay alongside Eligos before setting up residence somewhere within Imp's territory. He was invited to a meeting with the Undersiders to talk business. Valefor scoffed at the warladies "rules" and informed her that she would be fighting her soon, ignoring that Skitter saying he and Eligos wouldn't be in the Bay long.Interlude 20.y Later, when the Undersiders came after him and Eligos, Valefor was prepared. He had disguised himself as a teenage girl before using his power on Imp. He compelled a woman to pretend to be his mother and hid in her embrace. He then stepped out and told everyone listening to him to kill themselves or to kill Skitter and Regent if they moved. He finished by telling them to forget he had given them orders and directed Imp to go out and kill her teammates before killing herself. Imp charged at Skitter and Regent before abruptly turning around. Valefor tried to get everyone to kill themselves, but Imp kicked him between the legs. She pinned him against the ground, knife to his throat, and demanded he cancel his orders. He tried to ask how she had managed to free herself of his influence only to be slapped across the face. After the crowd dispersed, she struck him again but stopped when Skitter told her to.“To everyone listening, if that swarm or any of the people inside move away from that spot, or if something happens to me,” a young girl spoke in a man’s voice, stepping out of the sheltering embrace of a middle-aged woman. “Kill yourselves or do your best to kill them, I don’t care which.” ... “…and forget I gave these orders,” he finished. That would be one reason for the stranger classification, right there. The orders to kill or commit suicide were a surprise to me, but he was more than capable of covering his tracks. “Imp,” Valefor said. “Find and kill your teammates. I want you to kill yourself when you’re done trying. Go, and forget I gave this order.” Imp drew her knife with one hand and her taser with the other. She paused a second, and then charged for Regent and I. I tensed. I had options, but if any of his hostages read it as a cue to kill themselves- no. I could shoot from the midst of the cloud, but then we’d be paralyzed. There was no guarantee that Valefor’s influence would end with his death. I’d told myself I’d be heartless, but this wasn’t what I’d meant. Imp turned a right angle, moments before plunging into the swarm. She charged for Valefor. He reacted, giving an order, “Everyone listening, kill yo-” He didn’t get any further. She kicked, directing the attack between Valefor’s legs. Valefor hit the ground, and Imp kicked him between the legs once more for good measure. “Cancel the orders, fuckwit!” she growled, dropping on top of him. Her knife pressed against Valefor’s throat. “How-” She backhanded him across the face, striking him in one cheekbone with the knife handle. “Cancel!” I could sense the crowd relaxing. People hurried away from the scene. It took more than a minute before they were all gone. Imp struck Valefor again. “Stop,” I said. “Regent got one in, I wanted one too,” she said. She spat at Valefor. I tentatively moved bugs, then settled them around his eyes. Valefor struggled, but froze when Imp pressed the knife against his throat. Regent got one in? Oh. “You… voluntarily gave him control over you?” I asked. “Little while back,” Imp said. “I wanted to see what it was like. Could come in handy. Did come in handy.” - Excerpt from Imago 21.3 Valefor tried to struggle but stopped when Imp pressed the knife against his throat. Skitter blinded him with insects before Imp managed to get the knife in his mouth. Sometime later, he heard someone approaching him and managed to shake off enough bugs to open his eyes. He fixed his gaze on Skitter before the insects she had dropped onto him. He tried to use his power to make her stop only for Imp to move the knife and then bring her knee into his chin. Skitter then stepped on his hand and his struggles intensified until he turned his head to throw up. Eventually, Skitter told Imp to let Valefor get up before ordering him to walk. Valefor, blinded and exhausted from the ordeal, was then marched to where Rosary was. Skitter shoved him towards Rosary and he tripped. After Rosary realized what Skitter had done, Skitter told her that he would need antibiotics for his eyes and that the choice of saving his vision was up to her.I approached Valefor and Imp. Valefor heard the footsteps, must have felt the impact as I stepped forward, standing over him. He shook his head violently, oblivious to the knife Imp had placed in his mouth. That, or he’d overheard something I’d said and didn’t care anymore. He managed to shake enough bugs off that he could open his eyes. He fixed his gaze on me, and I froze. My thoughts dissolved to warm, wet, white noise. The maggots, millipedes and centipedes dropped from my hand. A part of me that was aware without being quite conscious controlled them, carried out my intent. They spilled onto his face, and moved toward his eyes. The stronger bugs helped pave the way for the others, leveraging the eyelids away from the eyes so the maggots could pass beneath. “No!” he shouted, around the knife. “Sto-” Imp shifted position. She was kneeling on his chest, and she moved the knife, bringing one knee into Valefor’s chin. I could feel the force of the impact through the bugs on his face. “Oh god,” Imp said, “Gross. Gross, gross, gross. Did I get any of them on me?” My thoughts were clearing. I blinked, and the movement felt painfully slow, as though I were almost asleep. “You didn’t get any bugs on you,” I said, stepping on Valefor’s right hand. Imp held his left with one hand, and held the knife’s blade against Valefor’s makeup-caked lips. He groaned and writhed beneath her grip. “They stink,” Imp complained. “You’re imagining it.” “I’m really not.” Valefor’s struggles continued. His writhing intensified, and it got to the point where he had to turn his head to throw up. When he turned his head my way, his eyes moved over me, unseeing. His chest was heaving as though he’d just run a long distance. ... “He’s blind,” she voiced the realization out loud. “You blinded him.” I nodded, still silent. “Permanently?” I had to give a response, now. “He’ll need antibiotics. Both Valefor and Eligos will need medical care. It’s up to you whether you save his vision.” - Excerpt from Imago 21.3 After being given to the Protectorate he was charged and presumably jailed.“I thought it was another kind of brainwashing after I heard about Valefor’s exploits in Brockton Bay, with the arrest and trial,” - Excerpt from Shadow 5.12 Timeskip In the time since his failure, he has settled into a new role. Gold Morning Presumably, he had an experience comparable to other parahumans. Early-Ward Having survived Gold Morning and presumably released at the time of the event or subsequent amnesty, Elijah found his way back to his family. - Excerpt from Interlude 4c II Stepping back into his role he used his adapted power for recruitment, such as with Lachlan Hund. This did not go unnoticed.News. Inquiry into the circumstances of Lachlan Hund. Not a trial, but an inquiry, some questions by people with more official standing. He’d fallen in with some sketchy people, and there were thoughts about there being powers involved. The inquiry was the story of the hour, it seemed. Heroes stood by to step in and take him away to get help if officials were suspicious he’d been manipulated, but it was sounding like he would go home with his new family. That sucked. - Excerpt from Daybreak 1.8 With the assault on the Fallen compound, Valefor stepped into the public eye for the first time in nearly four years.Shadow 5.10 He was surrounded by helpers and bodyguards to help best direct his power against the attacking villains and heroes.Shadow 5.10 He hypnotized one group very effectively but one hero was able to construe his order to help him to take him out of the battle and leave him out of breath and bruised on a roof.I would help and serve him. That was the idea he’d planted in my head. Before he could catch his breath from the impact, I flew in a spiral tight enough his legs went out to the side, and then gently deposited him on a rooftop. I flew away before he could catch his footing, get a lungful of air, and give me another command. - Excerpt from Shadow 5.10 Later this same hero would mutilate Valefor by punching off his jaw after he escalated a situation.I went straight for Valefor. He was still protected as I brought the Wretch out. When I punched him, I could feel the Wretch meet that invisible barrier. I could see, in slow motion through both the expulsion of Secondhand’s detonation and Last Minute’s protective effect, the destruction of Valefor’s lower face as the Wretch passed through the barrier. I couldn’t bring myself to kill, even now. I canceled out my power of my own volition, when it was clear that I’d destroyed his jaw. - Excerpt from Shadow 5.12 This left him in need of serious medical attention.The bearded man paused. “She says her son needs medical attention.” - Excerpt from Pitch 6.3 Post-Fallen fall Elijah was supplied with an explosive ankle monitor and hospitalized.Beacon 8.4 Soon afterwards Teacher was able to reach him and begin the process of enslaving him with the assistance of Scapegoat.Interlude 8.y II Post-Time Bubble Pop Valefor was healed and supplied with tinker-tech eyes.Black 13.x Valefor was bisected and killed by the combined efforts of Precipice and Chastity.The silver blade caught Valefor around the middle. Chastity pulled him off balance, and he landed firmly and uncomfortably in a sitting position atop a jagged heap of concrete. The concrete didn’t matter as much as the solid landing, which made the silver line split. Upper half slid from lower half with an audible sucking sound. - Excerpt from Dying 15.8 Fanart Gallery Valefor.jpg| Image by Pabel and Nine on Tumblr Fallen_characters.jpg| Image by Fatsmagoo on Reddit Trivia *Valefor is a duke of hell in classical demonology. *While it's not stated that Elijah's legal surname is Mathers.She shook her head. “Elijah? Valefor?” “To the elders, in the sitting room. They told me I’m to marry.” - Excerpt from Interlude 5d II The assumption made here is predicated on his mother not having married, thus her children would use her surname. *Valefor, and presumably The Fallen as a whole, has a page on the Parahumans Online wiki. Site Navigation Category:Males Category:Villains Category:The Fallen Category:Master Category:Stranger Category:Characters Category:The Taught Category:Deceased Category:Mathers Family Category:Worm Characters Category:Ward Characters